Miss Erin's Blog...

Every class matters. It is important that you be present and that you do every part of every class that you can, every day. The best dancers know this. They don’t rely on their talent alone and they never ever rely on what they were able to do yesterday. Yesterday doesn’t count for today. The audience doesn’t care if you did a triple pirouette once, even if it was just yesterday. This is where ballet is more challenging than sports. You don’t get a record or stats to carry with you or wear like a badge. You don’t get a ring, or a trophy. You just get that one moment on stage. Videos and tape recordings do nothing to enable an audience to relive being in that moment on stage with you – and they count for nothing. If you’re lucky, maybe someone other than your stage mom will remember those moments you’ve had on stage –but the likelihood is that everyone else in the audience will already be watching the next dancer. The truth is that for the best dancers, it doesn’t matter. We don’t need the badge, or the trophy, or the stats to wear and cling to, we don’t need the videos, because we relive these moments every day in class; Over and over, never missing a beat; staying with the rhythm and loving every minute. Yes, we are thinking about starting with the trophies and directors’ awards and all that jazz for our dedicated participants. Next year, we’ll be able to boast about our committed, dedicated students that have been working, sweating, dancing at Integral for five years. But I know my students, and I know they don’t want the trophies or ribbons. An earned trophy will never shine as bright as the dancers that don’t miss a beat.